Golden Eagles fall in regular season opener; Auburn nets four on their home turf

Aug 20, 2010

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles
soccer team faced off against a dominant opponent in Auburn Friday
night to open up the regular season of play for this athletic year.
Tech shouldered a tough 4-0 loss from the SEC powerhouse as Auburn
put the Golden Eagle defense to the test.

Auburn grabbed a quick lead from Tech in the third minute of
play when Katy Frierson caught freshman goalkeeper Becca Toler off
the line and netted an upper 90 shot to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead
and log her 15th career goal.

The Tigers didn’t let up after taking the early lead, as
Mary Coffed made a run up field in the 22nd minute of
the match to take control of a loose ball that Toler couldn’t
get her hands on.

The Golden Eagles held the Tigers to a 2-0 lead until the
58th minute of the game, when Ashley Marks got her head
on a corner kick by Coffed to give the Tigers the 3-0 lead, and
Monica Affandor contributed the final goal for the Tigers, with the
assist going to Frierson.

While the Tech offense found it difficult to penetrate the AU
defense, logging just one shot on the day in the second half of the
contest, the Golden Eagle defense gained valuable experience in
facing the Tigers.

Toler and her defense would be peppered with 33 shots on the
game from Auburn. The freshman keeper made nine saves in total to
hold to the Tigers to a four-goal victory.

“It’s good for our defense to go up against a
dominant offense like Auburn’s,” said head coach Daniel
Brizard. “It gives us an opportunity to locate our areas for
improvement and will prepare us for a challenging OVC schedule.

“The opportunity to match up with Auburn was something
that we couldn’t turn down,” Brizard continued.
“The atmosphere that surrounds a game like tonights is
something that our ladies need to experience to develop mentally as
a team for the upcoming season.”

Tech will see a quick turnaround on competition this weekend as
they will head to Chattanooga on Sunday for a 1 p.m. game against
the Mocs before returning to Cookeville Sunday night.